HBO Hacker Leaks Curb Your Enthusiasm Episodes, But Still No Game of Thrones

A hacker escalated its weeks-long attack on HBO’s computer
network on Sunday, leaking several episodes of Curb Your
Enthusiasm that weren’t due out until October. It has not,
however, spilled any new episodes of Game of Thrones,
just to get that out of the way up top.

The hack is evidently an attempt to extort HBO for several
million dollars, but the company isn’t playing ball. Along withCurb Your Enthusiasm, leaked material that has
trickled out recently includes episodes of Insecure,Ballers and The Deuce, according toVariety. A Game of Thrones script was alsopreviously released, as well
as internal documents like job offer letters and emails from a
programming executive. Still, the breach has not yet reached
the level of the infamous and highly destructive Sony hack of
2014.

HBO, while not pleased, has issued a firm statement declaring
that despite the intrusions, it isn’t going to be forking over
any money:

“We are not in communication with the hacker and we’re not
going to comment every time a new piece of information is
released. It has been widely reported that there was a cyber
incident at HBO. The hacker may continue to drop bits and
pieces of stolen information in an attempt to generate media
attention. That’s a game we’re not going to participate in.
Obviously, no company wants their proprietary information
stolen and released on the internet. Transparency with our
employees, partners, and the creative talent that works with
us has been our focus throughout this incident and will
remain our focus as we move forward. This incident has not
deterred us from ensuring HBO continues to do what we do
best.”

Still, I wonder how long the network will stick to its guns if
those GoT episodes start dropping ahead of schedule.Variety reported that HBO already offered a $250,000
“bounty payment” to buy itself time while a larger ransom was
discussed, though allegedly that was an empty offer. We’ll see
what happens.